The Last Days: Did Jesus Fail to Keep His Promise?

Introduction

If the words uttered by a prophet failed to come to pass that person was considered to be a false prophet, the penalty for such a crime was recorded in Deuteronomy 18:18-22.

• Deu 18:18-22 KJV I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

'...I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren...' Moses prophesied that God would raise up a Prophet, both Peter and Stephen proclaimed that Jesus was the fulfilment of that prophecy...Acts 3:22-23; Acts 7:37.

If the words of Jesus had failed to come to pass, He too would have been considered a false prophet, consequently Christianity would have been built upon a false premise. There are critics of Christianity today who try to undermine the authenticity of the Lord Jesus Christ by declaring Him a false prophet, because they cannot reconcile the 'imminent' factor of His end-time predictions.

I will seek to explain from the Scriptures how Jesus did keep all His promises, and that He is true to His word by returning when He said He would. Even although this may invite ridicule and scorn from those who expect a future literal manifestation of His coming.

Did Jesus fail to keep His Promise regarding His imminent return? Of course not!

I have taken a selection of Scriptures where phrases of imminence were used, such as ‘...at hand...’ ‘...the time is short’...' ‘...it is the last time...’

‘...At hand...’ means in the ‘near future’ not in the 'far and distant future' as taught by many scholars today.

It is not difficult to understand the meaning of the phrase ‘...at hand...’ in the following Scriptures, the term simply means that the events mentioned were about to happen and subsequently did.

• Mat 26:45 KJV Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

• Mar 14:42 KJV Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

• Joh 2:13 KJV And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

• Joh 7:2 KJV Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.

If we accept the aforementioned Scriptures came to pass after a short period of time, surely we must remain consistent when interpreting the following:

• Mat 3:2 KJV And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• Mat 4:17 KJV From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• Mat 10:7 KJV And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Does ‘…at hand...’ still mean 'imminent' in these Scriptures? If yes, then the Kingdom of Heaven arrived in the lifetime of Jesus’ generation.

Of course God has always been Sovereign over His creation; hence Jesus came at the appointed time to establish the Kingdom of God in the hearts of men.

A phrase like ‘...at hand...’ does not fit Dispensationalism's view of Eschatology, and it is not uncommon to be told that ‘...at hand...’ cannot mean what it says it does, even although Dispensationalism claims to take the Scriptures literally.

Avoidance of the issue and an unwillingness to address the consequences of statements like these are common throughout the Church teaching fraternity, and has allowed the enemies of the Gospel to ridicule the Lord’s Name and His Apostles.

Many today mock Christianity for believing in a so-called ‘false prophet’, claiming that Jesus' prophesies have not been fulfilled; as a result Jesus is not who He claims to be. In the meantime the Church continues to neglect in its duty to defend the clear and simple statements of Jesus, because it would rock the theological boat.

However, to the spiritually discerning there is no doubt that all the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled by Jesus exactly as He promised, when He returned in AD 70.

How else can we account for the following Scriptures that explicitly state an imminent return?

• Mat 10:23 KJV But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

Jesus was speaking specifically to His disciples, not to believers 2000 years in the future.

It is so important to consider audience relevance when we interpret the Scriptures.

• Mat 16:27 KJV ‘...For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father…’

• Mat 16:27 YLT ‘...For, the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father…’

Young in his Literal Translation unequivocally asserted Christ's impending return when he translated the Greek word ‘Mello’ as ‘...about to come...’ rather than the ‘...shall come...’ in the KJV.

• Joh 5:25 KJV Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

‘...And now is...’ what have we to make of such comments from the inspired Word of God? Not only was the Parousia referred to as imminent but also the Resurrection and the Judgement.

• Rom 13:12 KJV The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

• Rom 16:20 KJV And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

• 1Co 7:29 KJV But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

• Phi 4:5 KJV Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

• 1Th 4:15 KJV For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

Paul said ‘...we...’ which are alive, he did not say ‘...those...’ which are alive!

Why did Paul constantly teach the imminent return of the Lord, was he guessing or did the Holy Spirit inspire him? The answer is obvious.

• Heb 10:37 KJV For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

• Jas 5:8-9 KJV Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

• 1Pe 4:7 KJV But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Both James and Peter referred to the Judgement that was to take place when Jesus returned.

• 1Jo 2:18 KJV Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

• Rev 1:1 KJV The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

• Rev 1:3 KJV Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

• Rev 22:10 KJV And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

The only major historic event that was ‘...at hand...’ after the Day of Pentecost was the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews in AD 70.

The Revelation solely related to that event which in effect meant the end of the Old Covenant Age. The fundamental message of 'The Revelation' was the approaching Parousia with the accompanying Judgement of the guilty nation of Israel.

• Mat 24:26 KJV Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

Jesus warned His disciples that false prophets would arise in the last days saying that the Messiah was here or there.

Did the Apostles join their ranks by preaching the imminent Return of Christ? Of course not, they were proclaiming the imminent return by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

According to most Christians Jesus has still to return, this however is contrary to the teaching of the Apostles, they constantly emphasised that they were living in the '...last days...' prior to the Parousia.

Is it at all possible that Jesus and the Apostles were wrong in their predictions? Of course not!

Did they give false hope to the persecuted Church of the 1st century by encouraging them to believe that the Parousia was about to happen? Of course not!

Were they guilty of deception? Of course not!

It may be shocking for the Christian to think in these terms, but these questions still need to be addressed.

It is contrary to the Divine Nature to lie or to deceive, everything Jesus said was truth and would come to pass on time and in the manner He predicted.

The problem lies with us, are we willing to accept the Word of God and come to terms with the consequences, or continue to be entertained by last days fiction writers and the TV evangelists who take their ‘End Times’ theology from the daily newspapers?

Dispensationalism claims that all is not yet fulfilled even although the time was considered to be nigh 2000 years ago. It appears that the majority of Christians do not believe Jesus when He said ‘...I come quickly...’

The language Jesus and the Apostles used was clear and simple.

Yes the time is ‘...at hand...’ the time is at hand for a Paradigm Shift in the Christian’s approach to the subject of Eschatology!

What do you think?

The Last Days: Are We Really in the Last Days?...Read More>>

Dispensationalism is rooted in the writings of John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) and the Brethren Movement.

The concept consists of a distinctive eschatological 'End Times' perspective. All proponents hold to Premillennialism and the majority to a Pretribulation Rapture.

Dispensationalism teaches that the nation of Israel is distinct from the Church, and that God has yet to fulfil His promises to national Israel. These promises include the land promise and a future millennium kingdom, whereupon Christ will rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years.